Carrying heavy secrets alone: sexual trauma disclosure in boys and men

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Boys and men take 15-20 years on average to disclose sexual trauma. Masculine norms, shame, and fear of disbelief create unique barriers to help-seeking.

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Mental health service users face higher sexual victimisation risk

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Mental health service users face higher sexual victimisation rates than the general population: 13% in the past year for women, 3% for men, across all service settings.

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“It’s not all in your head”: Sexual assault raises risk of functional somatic disorders

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Sexual assault survivors face six-fold increased risk of multiorgan functional somatic disorder (unexplained physical symptoms like chronic pain and fatigue).

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Mental health impacts of sexual violence in older adults: a qualitative study

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This qualitative study interviewed 15 older adults (aged 70+) who had experienced sexual violence during their lifetimes. Participants reported anxiety, guilt, shame, disrupted identity and interpersonal distrust, yet most did not associate mental health difficulties with their trauma.

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From menstruation to menopause: how sex-steroids shape women’s mental health across the life course

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Sex and gender differences in mental health are real; the mechanisms are under-explored. This review pulls together evidence on sex-steroids, brain development, neuroinflammation, and the social world to show where practice and policy must catch up.

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Alcohol and interpersonal violence: new review estimates how many adults experience emotional violence from others’ drinking

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Nora de Bode looks at the international prevalence of interpersonal violence due to others’ alcohol consumption. This new review finds that in 2019, around 1 in 4 adults in Central Europe, Eastern Europe, and Central Asia, and 1 in 6 adults in high income regions, experienced emotional violence from others’ drinking.

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Supporting female violence researchers who experience vicarious trauma

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Eve Wang summarises a qualitative study exploring the emotional safety and coping mechanisms in women conducting violence and abuse research, who experience vicarious trauma.

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Adverse childhood experiences increase the risk of juvenile reoffending

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In Athena Chow’s debut blog, she summarises a systematic review and meta-analysis on the relationship between adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and risk of juvenile reoffending.

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What is the evidence for ADHD as a risk factor for intimate partner violence or sexual violence?

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In this co-written blog, Vishal Bhavsar and Janhvi Duggal explore a recent systematic review which looks at the relationship between ADHD and exposure to, and perpetration of, intimate partner violence and sexual violence.

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